Diagnostic value of saccadic pursuit eye movement in screening for organic cerebral dysfunction.

In order to validate the results obtained in a preliminary investigation the saccadation of slow pursuit eye movements was examined in 19 patients with unilateral brain damage, in 25 patients with diffuse cerebral disease and in 26 neurotic patients. The diagnostic significance of saccadation was ascertained in detecting general cerebral dysfunction. By means of a discriminant function combining the parameters, "number" and "size", of saccades more than 80% of the brain-damaged patients and controls could be identified correctly, but the side of the cerebral lesion could not be determined.